LITERACY  Volunteers' holistic approach puts reading in social and religious context
By Tom Beyerlein Dayton Daily News Published: Wednesday, May 6, 1998 Part 4 of 5 Dixie Land was reading a story about Paul Bunyan. "Because of his size, he could do almost anything. One of the things he did best was cutting trees. With every swing, 100 trees fell to the ground." The East Dayton grandmother with the name borrowed from the Confederacy suffers from heart, respiratory and stomach problems and can hardly get out of bed some days. But in one important respect, Dixie Land feels Paul Bunyan-strong. She can read. That wasn't the case for most of her 59 years. As a short-order cook in Dayton diners, she knew that when a waitress wrote "CB" on an order, it meant to fry another cheeseburger. That was about as far as her reading skills went. Things started changing for Land in 1993, when she became Dick Cagno's first student at the Volunteers of America adult learning center, which is now three doors down from Land's house on Philadelphia Street in East Dayton. She studies there two mornings a week. The VOA center has an interesting approach to teaching reading. That is, it doesn't just teach reading. Located in an old church, the center also provides religious and social services to its mostly low-income clientele. "They're doing a really good job of meeting the clients' needs in a holistic way," said Karla Hibbert-Jones, executive director of the local literacy umbrella group Project READ. "(Cagno) has served as a focal point for that whole community. I truly think he's making a difference."
"This is a second home," Cagno said. "In fact, it's the only sane place to come for a lot of them." The adult school serves elementary-level readers to college students. Sinclair Community College offers a course there. The center is open four days a week. Its 14 volunteers, most of them college students or retired teachers, teach adult reading and math and GED preparation to about 65 students per week. Students come twice a week and work at their own pace. The center doesn't accept government aid. "Too much red tape," Cagno said. There is no charge for the program. Funding comes from proceeds from VOA thrift shops in Columbus and from donations of used cars, which are then sold by the VOA. Computers are an important part of the program. Every student is on the computer from the first day of instruction. There are two computer rooms - one for adults, one for children.
A few students were motivated by welfare rules that require recipients to go to school, Cagno said, and some students participate as a condition of probation. But the majority come to the program voluntarily. Two-thirds of the students are women, but some of them are now convincing their husbands to attend. New students are tested to assess their skill levels in math and reading. "For some, it's devastating to know they only read at a fourth-grade level, but it's reality and we can work from there," Cagno said. Land read at about a second-grade level when she entered the program. Now, she is at an early high school level, Cagno said, and is "within reach" of a high school equivalency diploma. But she isn't just thinking about what an education could do for her in the future. "It's doing a lot for me right now," she said. "I feel more like a human being and not like a dog." Like many people in literacy programs, Land wants to help her family as well as herself. She wants to be a good example for her nine grandchildren and break the cycle of literacy problems in her family. She was born Dixie Kennedy in Dayton on Jan. 5, 1939, the youngest of seven children. Her siblings are all dead. She attended Jackson Elementary School, which has long since burned down. "You go to school, but you don't really pay attention," she said. "You're there to have fun with the other kids." Her parents didn't stress the importance of education. "You either learned or you didn't. It was your decision." Dixie didn't. Her school days ended when she was about 12 and in the fourth grade. "After Daddy had his stroke, I quit going to school. I stayed home and took care of my daddy." Land left Dayton at age 20 in 1959 and moved to Greenville, S.C., her first husband's hometown. The couple had three children. She lived in Greenville until her divorce in 1981, then she returned to Dayton. She remarried, but her second husband, Bill Land, died last year.
Now, some of her nine grandchildren have dropped out of school. A grandson, Matt Stidham, 20, has earned a GED, and Land convinced granddaughter Brandy Stidham, 17, to study for the high school equivalency test. "If they get that (GED), at least I'll know they have a chance in life," she said. "I try to tell them to stay in school. They look at me and say, 'You don't know what you're talking about.' I tell them by not having an education, you're going to be scrubbing floors. I tell them I've worked hard all my life - I don't want that for you." From 1981 until health problems forced her to quit in the early 1990s, Land worked as a grill cook, making $3.25 an hour plus tips. When the Volunteers of America started the literacy program in 1993, Land asked Cagno if she could learn to read. "He said, 'We can do it if you're really determined.'" Land has been working at the VOA center ever since, studying reading and language, social studies and science. She's also learning to work with computers for the first time. "I've really enjoyed my schooling," Land said. "I really appreciate people being interested enough to want to help me. Dick's patient - if he wasn't, I wouldn't be here." Land can now read her Bible and attends a weekly Bible study at the VOA center's chapel. Both the Bible study program and the weekly chapel services at the VOA were Land's ideas, Cagno said. She knows it may still be years away, but her long-term goal is to get a GED. "It's up to the good Lord if I finish," she said. "If I don't, I tried."
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JIM WITMER DAYTON DAILY NEWS
JIM WITMER DAYTON DAILY NEWS
Land congratulates her grandson Robbie as he brings home an
honor roll certificate from Carlson Elementary School and shows it
to her on the porch.